Barca batter Al Sadd to set up Santos final
Reuters - Thursday 15 December 2011, 12:27
Barcelona swatted
aside Qatar's Al Sadd 4-0 on Thursday to advance to the Club
World Cup final, but their win was clouded when striker David
Villa suffered a broken leg.
Brazilian defender Adriano scored twice in an embarrassingly
one-sided contest as the Spanish and European champions set up a
final with Brazil's Santos on Sunday.
The gloss was taken off Barca's victory in front of a crowd
of 66,000 when Spain striker Villa fractured his left leg under
a heavy challenge in the first half.
"We're all very sad for David," said Barca coach Pep
Guardiola, whose side are bidding to win their second Club World
Cup in three years.
"He will be out for a long time with this sort of break.
It's a massive blow for him and Barcelona.
"He will return to Barcelona as soon as possible for an
operation, escorted by a physician. We will have to win the Club
World Cup without him but he is in our hearts."
A glum-looking Guardiola added: "We didn't give Al Sadd a
chance today."
Barca took the lead in comical fashion after 25 minutes when
Pedro's cross bobbled off Al Sadd defender Nadir Belhadj and
goalkeeper Mohamed Saqr's panicked clearance bounced off
Adriano's shin into the back of the net.
Adriano scored his second goal two minutes before half-time,
latching on to a pass from Thiago Alcantara to drive a powerful,
left-foot shot into the bottom corner.
Argentine wizard Lionel Messi then brilliantly picked out
Seydou Keita, who calmly flicked home Barca's third goal in the
64th minute with Asian champions Al Sadd chasing shadows.
SECURITY GUARDS
Substitute Maxwell completed the rout after 81 minutes as
Barca's quick passing game befuddled Al Sadd, who gave the
Catalan giants less trouble than stadium security had on their
arrival for the match.
Messi and several Barcelona team-mates looked confused at
being held up by zealous Japanese security guards, after getting
off the bus, for not having their accreditation visible.
"It's terrible what happened to Villa," said Barca
midfielder Javier Mascherano. "We're all sad about what happened
and want to offer him our support.
"Today we calmed down after the first goal and the second
goal almost finished the game."
Guardiola, whose thoughts were clearly on the stricken
Villa, said he was relishing the chance to take on Santos in
Sunday's mouth-watering final in Yokohama.
"Santos have a great history - they produced Pele," said
Guardiola. "They are still producing great players and will be
very dangerous."
Al Sadd coach Jorge Fossati said: "It was a rewarding
experience for my players to play against the best team in the
world.
"Barcelona have a kingdom and there is no team that can
topple that kingdom."
Santos, led by Brazil hot-shot Neymar, will provide an
altogether different test, having beaten Japan's Kashiwa Reysol
3-1 in Wednesday's first semi-final in Toyota.